Brandon: We're kind of like Black Sabbath mixed with Helmet with death metal vocals. We're all really good friends outside of the band. It started with me and nick just trying to put some slower songs together for fun and eventually we brought in some friends to flesh it out and everything came out sounding alot better than expected.
2.You have an ep coming out in December, can you tell us a little bit more about the musical style you went for on this recording?
Brandon: Slow and dark was the goal. A few of us were in a really fast hardcore band called Enemy Insects, so this time around we wanted to slow things down a bit. It's basically that band without the fast parts haha
3.The band members come from 'Enemy Instincts' and 'Roomrunner', what was the decision behind leaving those bands to form a new one?
Brandon: I think those bands just kinda fell apart after a while. We didn't leave them to do this. They were over and this just kinda happened. We have a big group of musician friends where we are from. So every band is members of another band. It's really about hanging out with your friends and having a good time for us.
4.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?
Mark: I usually get ideas for lyrics from something I read in the news, from a movie, TV show or something, which I find interesting enough to look into some more then I write a story about it. They'll range from mythology/fantasy to sci-fi to gore with some humour thrown in there. Whatever I feel like writing about at that time.
5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Tombtoker'?
Brandon: it's a name I've had in my back pocket since the early 2000's. I just never had a band that sounded like it could be called tombtoker. This bands sound seems to fit pretty well with it. I know it may sound like it, to some, with that name, but weed isn't our identity. Not that we're against it.
6.The album title and cover have an Egyptian theme to them, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in the history and mythology of Egypt'?
Nick: So this is something that I kind of pursued. Brandon was experimenting with the scale-set that was very "Egyptian", in the audial sense. So that was the jumping-off point. It was something I had never really heard before in the "doom/stoner" metal scene, and I thought it fit perfectly. Especially in a world that usually consists of distinctly European influence. Combine that with the idea of the name "Tombtoker" and it started to come together. Ancient Egyptian culture and mythology is something that's struck a nerve with now-modern humanity. It's a perfect mix of being VERY old, to the point we aren't *really* sure of what we know, But, it's also amazingly documented compared to other "ancient" civilizations of the time. The idea of "being old, but not forgotten" really rang a bell in my head. Combine that with the Egyptians famous penchant for dedicating themselves to extremely long projects of culture, and a world-view that extended beyond "the world" itself. I took a fair amount of care in making sure we were channeling that atmosphere, without also using it as a hokey one-off exploitation of that part of human existence. The final aspect is tied into the second, which is just the absolutely grand scope of that old mythology. It extends out, even more, than a lot of the European mythos (which is so prevelent in this kind of scene). A lot of Egyptian mythology is very intertwined with itself. It builds on itself, it has aspects of what people were learning at the time worked into it's stories. I think that fit our approach to our songwriting perfectly. When we went with the name "Tombtoker," we wanted it to sound to a first-listener like they had uncovered something old, but something that still felt fresh. If you can come up with a different description of a mummy, I'd like to hear it. When we chose that imagery, all I had to do was send a shitty phone recording of one of our songs to our good friend John DeCampos, with an even shittier pencil-drawing of my concept and he just ran with it and created an image that, I think, very perfectly describes our sound.
7.What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and also how would you describe your stage performance?
Brandon: 420fest at Metro Gallery in Baltimore was def a highlight. We just played at Skidrow Garage in York, PA a couple weeks ago and that ruled. We just kinda go out there and bang em out. Our drummer is a beast so we really gotta turn up.
8.Do you have any touring or show plans once the ep is released?
Brandon: Well the record release show is gonna be at this gnarly fest in Baltimore called December Doomsday December 8th. With Weedeater, Heavy Temple, Unearthly Trance, Black Lung, and Foehammer, on the bill it's sure to crush. We'll def be lining up a small tour soon.
9.On a worldwide level how has the reaction been to your music by fans of stoner, sludge and doom metal?
Brandon: It's been great. Way more than we expected. People message us all the time about playing shows and wanting physical copies. The record has been getting great reviews. We were just gonna put out 2 song singles ourselves and play a few shows but we ended up having labels hitting us up right after we dropped the first one. Seeing Red Records and Metal Swarm will be putting out cds and tapes. We've been fortunate enough to play Baltimores 420fest with Heavy Temple, Haze Mage and some other rad bands. Now this December Doomsday fest. It's def been good.
10.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
Brandon: I think we're still developing our sound. Coffin Texts is made up of riffs I've had for 10 years, as well as some new stuff so it's gonna be interesting to see what we come up with starting from scratch all together.
11.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
Brandon: Black Sabbath, Dystopia, Helmet, Morbid Angel, The Jesus Lizard. I've been listening to alot of Weedeater and Heavy Temple. Getting pumped to play along side them at December Doomsday Fest Saturday December 8th at Metro Gallery in Baltimore. Did I mention that's our record release show?
12.What are some of your non musical interests?
Brandon: I know we're all into video games. Shout out to that Red Dead Redemption 2! Drunk discgolfing is also a thing. haha
13.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Brandon: Buy our new record Coffin Texts, out December 7th on Seeing Red Records and Metal Swarm Records! Cheers!
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